Surveillance and notification programs implemented at the request of the World Health Organization permitted the prompt identification of a novel pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in 2009, a retrospective analysis showed.

More Swine Flu News

The number of human infections with an influenza A H3N2 variant virus (H3N2v) originating in swine sharply increased over the past week, likely related to exposure to pigs at agricultural fairs, the CDC reported.

A new estimate places the number of people killed by the pandemic influenza A H1N1 strain worldwide at 284,400, about 15 times greater than the number of reported laboratory-confirmed cases, researchers found.

The risk of death among children critically ill with the pandemic H1N1 flu was highest among those who were already fragile, but in previously healthy children, only co-infection with Staphylococcus aureus increased the risk of death, researchers reported.

Patients with severe respiratory failure as a result of the H1N1 pandemic flu were less likely to die if they were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) rather than standard mechanical ventilation, researchers reported.